[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 22, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16991-16992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07061]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 90 , No. 76 / Tuesday, April 22, 2025 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 16991]]
Proclamation 10919 of April 17, 2025
250th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and
Concord
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Two and a half centuries ago, a small band of minutemen
answered the call of freedom in the legendary Battles
of Lexington and Concord, an epic tale of American
strength and the first major armed conflict of the
Revolutionary War. We honor the memories, remember the
sacrifices, and summon the courage of every hero of
liberty who gallantly shed his blood for the cause of
independence on April 19, 1775.
After years of intensifying frictions and escalating
hostility between the British Crown and the American
Colonies, all avenues to peace and diplomacy had been
exhausted, and it became clear to the patriots that war
was inevitable. Following the Boston Massacre, the
oppressive Intolerable Acts, and the lasting grievance
of taxation without representation, the colonists began
organizing militias as a final recourse in defense of
their right to self-government.
The British regime's reign of tyranny reached a
breaking point when, in his fearless midnight ride from
Boston, Massachusetts, Paul Revere announced the news
that the Redcoats were marching to Concord,
Massachusetts, to arrest Colonial leaders and seize
American arms. By the time they reached Lexington at
dawn, the British encountered 77 intrepid American
minutemen, led by Captain John Parker, boldly standing
their ground in defense of their independence. The
surprised British fired a volley, mortally wounding
eight American patriots--the very first American
soldiers to lay down their lives for our emerging
Nation.
The British ambush at Lexington became known as the
``shot heard 'round the world,'' prompting thousands of
brave young men to leave behind their homes and
livelihoods to fight for our freedom on the frontlines
of the American Revolution--commencing the greatest
fight for liberty in the history of the world.
Later that morning, the Redcoats arrived at Concord to
find and set fire to patriot military supplies. At the
sight of rising smoke from atop a lofty hill, the
colonists believed the Redcoats were burning the town,
provoking them to advance to the North Bridge. As
Captain Isaac Davis, whose company stood at the front
of the column, said of his soldiers gearing up to take
on the Redcoats, ``I haven't a man who is afraid to
go.''
As 400 daring militiamen descended down Punkatasset
Hill toward the North Bridge, the startled British
opened fire, killing 49 Americans, including Captain
Davis. ``Fire, fellow soldiers, for God's sake, fire!''
shouted Major John Buttrick of the Concord militia at
the sound of the discharging muskets--sending the
British running back to Boston in retreat in a
resounding victory for Colonial forces. For the next 12
miles, the patriots relentlessly pursued the Redcoats,
ambushing them from behind trees, walls, and other
cover. As one British soldier is said to have recalled,
the Americans ``fought like bears, and I would as soon
storm hell as fight them again.''
April 19, 1775, stands to this day as a seminal
milestone in our Nation's righteous crusade for liberty
and independence. On this day 250 years ago, with the
fire of freedom blazing in their souls, an
extraordinary army
[[Page 16992]]
of American minutemen defeated one of the mightiest
armies on the face of the earth and laid the foundation
for America's ultimate triumph over tyranny.
Two and a half centuries later, their fortitude remains
our inheritance, their resolve remains our birthright,
and their unwavering loyalty to God and country remains
the duty of every American patriot. As we approach the
250th anniversary of our Nation's independence next
year, we honor the valiant men who fought in defense of
their sacred right to self-government, we renew our
pledge to restore our republic to all of its greatness
and glory, and we commit to rebuilding a country and a
culture that inspires pride in our past and faith in
our future.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim April 19, 2025, as a
day in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the
Battles of Lexington and Concord and the beginning of
the American Revolutionary War.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2025-07061
Filed 4-21-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P